Fourteen Points of Agreement with Official Government Reports on the WTC Destruction; Jones, et al, Published in Peer-reviewed Civil Engineering Journal

PublishedApril 18, 2008

Steven E. Jones
April 18, 2008
Letter published at 911blogger.com

Finally! After submitting a half-dozen papers to established peer-reviewed technical journals over a period of nearly a year, we have two papers which have passed peer-review and have been accepted for publication. One of these was published TODAY! In science, we say that we have “published in the literature,” a major step in a nascent line of scientific inquiry.

And many thanks to the editors for their courage and adherence to science in allowing us to follow the evidence and publish in their journal. (Indeed, expressions of thanks along these lines to the editors will be appreciated, as they will probably get a few letters chastising them… )

Yes, it is available on-line FOR FREE, since this is an “open e-journal.” TOCEJ = The Open Civil Engineering Journal. You may download the paper and make copies to give to local professors and engineers (hint, hint). That’s one reason this particular journal was chosen — open access, free to download and make copies. What do Profs/Engineers say about it — let us know would you?

In this Letter, we emphasize “points of agreement” with FEMA and NIST, seeking to build bridges for further communications. Of course, we will send a copy to NIST for their comment and hopefully open a public discussion on these crucial evidences and analyses. Note the title — but then read more–the paper only six pages long:

Fourteen Points of Agreement with Official Government Reports on the World Trade Center Destruction

Approaching this as “Points of Agreement” is NEW, I believe (obviously some “older” quotes are cited in this new context) and we hope this will be a fruitful approach! Mechanical engineer Tony Szamboti and I are the “corresponding authors,” the ones people are invited to write to with comments.

With publication in an established civil engineering journal, the discussion has reached a new level — JREF’ers and others may attack, but unless they can also get published in a peer-reviewed journal, those attacks do not carry nearly the weight of a peer-reviewed paper. It may be that debunkers will try to avoid the fourteen issues we raise in the Letter, by attacking the author(s) or even the journal rather than addressing the science — that would not surprise me.

Professor Chomsky wrote to several, who passed it on to me:

“You, or anyone who agrees with you, has a very simple task. Since the evidence is so obvious and compelling, submit an article about it to Science, or Nature, or even Scientific American, or more technical journals, say those in civil engineering, where your article can refute the conclusions of the professional society of civil engineers… To date, no one has been willing to submit an article — at least, after probably hundreds of inquiries to Truth Movement advocates, no one has been able to mention one…”

Would someone who has received this note from Prof. Chomsky please send him a copy of the downloaded paper? Perhaps we can build a bridge with him. You might note that the paper is published in a “technical journal [one of those] in civil engineering,” to use his own words, which I took as sort of a challenge. I have published before in Nature (e.g., May 1986 and April 1989) AND Scientific American (July 1987), and this paper in a civil engineering journal I consider to be a very significant step in the history.

Further in the spirit of building bridges, I’d like to quote from Prof. Fetzer who wrote today — and I agree: “I would appreciate it… if those who are reaching out to the public would show a degree of appreciation for those who are trying to figure out how these things were done…. I believe we can succeed if we show more tolerance and less disrespect for one another.” Agreed! In this paper, the authors are both reaching out to the public (most can read this Letter with understanding, I think) AND seeking to progress in figuring out how the buildings were destroyed…

Now let’s work together to unify the 9/11 truth movement and show some mutual respect, shall we? Suggest we seek a focus on getting NIST (or other technical people) to work with us in doing a thorough and proper investigation which will include release of NIST-held photos AND the NFPA-921-mandated search for “thermite residues”. [Hint- good time to read the paper if you disagree or don’t know really what I’m talking about here.]

Finally, I should note that the editor that we worked with was polite and professional throughout the process. We hope others, in their responses, will maintain that decorum. In the final analysis, all THREE reviewers approved publication!

Abstract: Reports by FEMA and NIST lay out the official account of the destruction of the World Trade Center on 9/11/2001. In this Letter, we wish to set a foundation for productive discussion and understanding by focusing on those areas where we find common ground with FEMA and NIST, while at the same time countering several popular myths about the WTC collapses.